Local man honored for aid to workers

Published: Friday, February 6, 2004 at 3:40 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 6, 2004 at 3:40 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Aaron Waldrop, whose success in organizing workers at BFGoodrich Tire and Rubber Co. led other workers to seek out his expertise, was honored Thursday by his fellow workers and friends.

A group of about 40 people congregated at the Local 351 union hall to pay tribute to Waldrop, 79, and remember his nearly four decades of fighting for the rights of workers in the local community.

Beginning in 1949 and off and on through the 1980s, Waldrop served as president of Local 351, United Rubber Workers of America, for a total of 28 years.

But Waldrop worked not only to protect the rights of his co-workers at BFGoodrich (now Michelin/Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co.), but he also was called upon to help employees working for unrelated Tuscaloosa organizations, like Bryce Hospital and the R.L. Zeigler Co., said union member and former BFGoodrich production worker M.C. Montgomery. For example, Waldrop was paid $1 a year to advise local union leadership representing Bryce.

“Aaron Waldrop willingly and unselfishly gave thousands of hours of his time to every unorganized group that was attempting to organize during his many years with our union,” Montgomery said.

The people he helped included firefighters, police officers, barbers, hospital and nursing home workers and musicians, Montgomery said.

As manager of the BFGoodrich Federal Credit Union, Jim Phillips sat on the opposite side of the bargaining table from Waldrop, but he said he always knew Waldrop loved the credit union and “loved me.”

“I watched with admiration the times he negotiated with BF Goodrich,” Phillips said Thursday. “Time after time, he gained pay benefits, fringe benefits and improved conditions. I was amazed and in awe of his negotiating skills.”

It took Phillips two or three contracts before he started learning from Waldrop.

“He’d present you with 10 demands in the course of discussions and would drop five of them,” he said. “He called that ‘give and take.’ I got a little smarter being around him.”

But Phillips said he learned more than how to negotiate from Waldrop. “He also taught me that people are important,” Phillips said. “All he ever asked was that we be fair to people.”

Waldrop, a native of the Samantha area, joined a union at 16 when he began his first job in Mobile. After moving to Tuscaloosa, he went to work at BFGoodrich.

Now retired, Waldrop was seated at the front of the Local 351 union hall while his former co-workers and friends each rose to tell him what he meant to them.

“I had the most beautiful time,” he said at the end of the event. “It’s just a beautiful time to be with the people you worked with.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | Aaron Waldrop, whose success in organizing workers at BFGoodrich Tire and Rubber Co. led other workers to seek out his expertise, was honored Thursday by his fellow workers and friends. </p><p>A group of about 40 people congregated at the Local 351 union hall to pay tribute to Waldrop, 79, and remember his nearly four decades of fighting for the rights of workers in the local community.</p><p>Beginning in 1949 and off and on through the 1980s, Waldrop served as president of Local 351, United Rubber Workers of America, for a total of 28 years.</p><p>But Waldrop worked not only to protect the rights of his co-workers at BFGoodrich (now Michelin/Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co.), but he also was called upon to help employees working for unrelated Tuscaloosa organizations, like Bryce Hospital and the R.L. Zeigler Co., said union member and former BFGoodrich production worker M.C. Montgomery. For example, Waldrop was paid $1 a year to advise local union leadership representing Bryce. </p><p>“Aaron Waldrop willingly and unselfishly gave thousands of hours of his time to every unorganized group that was attempting to organize during his many years with our union,” Montgomery said.</p><p>The people he helped included firefighters, police officers, barbers, hospital and nursing home workers and musicians, Montgomery said.</p><p>As manager of the BFGoodrich Federal Credit Union, Jim Phillips sat on the opposite side of the bargaining table from Waldrop, but he said he always knew Waldrop loved the credit union and “loved me.”</p><p>“I watched with admiration the times he negotiated with BF Goodrich,” Phillips said Thursday. “Time after time, he gained pay benefits, fringe benefits and improved conditions. I was amazed and in awe of his negotiating skills.”</p><p>It took Phillips two or three contracts before he started learning from Waldrop.</p><p>“He'd present you with 10 demands in the course of discussions and would drop five of them,” he said. “He called that 'give and take.' I got a little smarter being around him.”</p><p>But Phillips said he learned more than how to negotiate from Waldrop. “He also taught me that people are important,” Phillips said. “All he ever asked was that we be fair to people.”</p><p>Waldrop, a native of the Samantha area, joined a union at 16 when he began his first job in Mobile. After moving to Tuscaloosa, he went to work at BFGoodrich.</p><p>Now retired, Waldrop was seated at the front of the Local 351 union hall while his former co-workers and friends each rose to tell him what he meant to them.</p><p>“I had the most beautiful time,” he said at the end of the event. “It's just a beautiful time to be with the people you worked with.”</p><p>Reach Stephanie Hoops at stephanie.hoops@tuscaloosanews.</p><p>com or 722-0204.</p>